Worst era in NHL History?

[Al Bundy*]

What would you consider to be the worst era in NHL history and why?

 

[NYRangers09]

its not now, if thats what your implying

 

[Church Hill]

Any era that leads to a lockout.

 

[TheSchwab]

Well only being 18 i dont know much about the past. I would say a big differnce between now and then would be the size and speed of players today blow other era's out of the water. Thats why i think the only solution to scoring is the olympic sized ice surface.

 

[Ogopogo*]

What would you consider to be the worst era in NHL history and why?

Easy.

1995-2004. Huge goaltending equipment, clutching and grabbing and the trap all suck.

Things are a little better now but the goaltending equipment is still too freaking big.

 

[HockeyThoughts]

The era where St.Louis and Iginla won Art Ross with 94-96pts (lowest point totals since Stan Mikta in 72 games in 1967–68) and Nash won Maurice Richard with 41goals (lowest goal scoring title since Gordie Howe in 70 game seasons in 1962-63)..

 

[pitseleh]

By worst, I'm assuming you mean in terms of top end talent in the league.

The three obvious choices are the birth of the league and the WWII era. But aside from the obvious choices, there have definitely been periods where the overall talent level seems to be lower than in other years (usually because of transitionary reasons):

- Late twenties (around the time of the introduction of the forward pass). The old guard was waning (Lalonde, Malone, Denneny, Cleghorn, etc.) and the new guard was just starting to come around (Morenz, Joliat, Boucher, etc.).

- The tail end of the forties and early fifties, during the Wings' dynasty years. Part of it obviously had to do with how dominant the Wings were at the time, but before the Canadiens started to improve, the talent level around the league (outside of the Wings) was pretty low.

- First half of this decade. The eighties/nineties stars were mostly on the decline or retired.

They're all a little short to be considered eras, but they were periods that had a somewhat diminished overall level of talent.

 

[Zine]

In terms of a pure talent standpoint, probably the 1970's.
Expansion + WHL + few europeans = diluted NHL.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

In terms of a pure talent standpoint, probably the 1970's.
Expansion + WHL + few europeans = diluted NHL.

was going to be my answer

 

[GNick42]

Late '90s to early 00's. When the trap slowed down the game so.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

In terms of a pure talent standpoint, probably the 1970's.
Expansion + WHA+ few europeans = diluted NHL.

Fixed that for you!

 

[Bourque]

Easy. 1995-2004. Huge goaltending equipment, clutching and grabbing and the trap all suck. Things are a little better now but the goaltending equipment is still too freaking big.

Agreed

 

[Sens Rule]

Probably WWII when so many players were in the military.

 

[Big Phil]

'96-04 for sure. At least in '95-'96 a 50 goal scorer wasnt as rare. Once '96-97 came around and leading up until the lockout in 2004 there were 11 100 point scorers. In '95-96 alone there were 12.

In that era we had the crease rule. We had clutching and grabbing dominate. We had defensive teams with miniscule talent go places because of defensive schemes (hello '96 Panthers, '03 Wild). We had goalies that benefitted from the gigantic equipment like Garth Snow, J-S Giguere and others. Snow would have been pumping gas for a living if this was the '80s. It was so impossible to score that Brian Boucher, yes Brian Boucher registered 5 straight shutouts while playing on a non-playoff team.

Another era that gets forgotten about is the pre-war days. Before Richard arrived in 1942 the game lacked star power. Sure there was Milt Schmidt and the usually exciting Syl Apps but Brooklyn had just lost their team before that and the NHL went from 7 to 6 teams. Not saying it was going to happen but talk of the NHL folding wasnt out of the question. Toe Blake and others were good players but they lacked that "guy" that fans wanted to see until Richard. Kind of like today, imagine an NHL without Crosby or Ovechkin, there would be less interest.

 

[FissionFire]

Bettman era.

 

[EventHorizon]

1999-2000 - current

The era of encouraged mediocrity, idiotic gimmicks, and forced parity. It started with the loser point and has gotten progressively worse from there. It's now gotten to the point where I have absolutely no idea how good or bad my team is, or any other team for that matter. One week they're in the running for home ice in the first round, the next week they're in 14th place. Might as well pick teams' names out of a hat to determine who makes the playoffs and who doesn't. With the shootout and loser point poisoning the league, it would be just as accurate as actually playing out the season.

 

[Wings4Life]

Easy.

1995-2004. Huge goaltending equipment, clutching and grabbing and the trap all suck.

Things are a little better now but the goaltending equipment is still too freaking big.

My answer as well, though goalie equipment increased earlier in the 90's if I recall.

 

[Murphy7]

1994-95 and 2004-05, and most of what was in between.
The 70s were fun and very entertaining and the occasional Russian series made the era.

 

[Al Bundy*]

I think the mid 50s and most of the 60s were terrible.

Yes, there were so many great players and great teams, Original 6, great rivalries, etc.

But it was very low scoring, and most of all, NO DRAMA.

A team from the U.S. won only once in nearly 15 years, and from the mid 50s through the 1960s, Montreal won the Cup nearly every damn year.

Back then, there was no playoff suspense and drama of today- you knew Montreal was going to hoist the Cup long before the playoffs started.

What was the point of getting all excited when you knew who was going to win?

 

[pappyline]

I would disagree completely. Maybe in the late 50's, Habs were close to a sure thing, but throughout the 60's, there were 5 teams in the running-Mtl, Tor, Chi, Det (& Bos at the end). A very competitive era, lots of superstars, great rivalries & exciting hard fought playoff series. Plus only 6 teams, every team had superstars, no helmets and you new every player. Its my favorite era that Iived through.

I don't like the current era. Too many teams, too many players, too much tinkering with the game. (shoot-outs, michelin man goalies etc.)

 

[Slapshooter]

1995-2004. Huge goaltending equipment, clutching and grabbing and the trap all suck.

Things are a little better now but the goaltending equipment is still too freaking big.

Same here, except I think 1995-96 season was still a decent one. So 1996-2004 for me. Followed by the current sissy era.

 

[Passchendaele]

1996-today. period.

 

[Dark Shadows]

Easy.

1995-2004. Huge goaltending equipment, clutching and grabbing and the trap all suck.

Things are a little better now but the goaltending equipment is still too freaking big.

Seconded.

In all the years I have watched hockey, I have never been so depressed with the sport as I was between 1997 and 2004.

First the Devils win a cup using the trap. Then half the teams in the NHL started using that trap in 1996, Then the panthers, a crappy expansion team with no star power, went to the finals using a bloody trap, and the next year 1997, everyone was using it.
Combined with Clutching and grabbing, it was terrible for skill players.

Scoring dried up like mad. Especially for top scorers.
The effect of the trap and goaltending equipment on top scorers.

In 1982-83:11 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had 196). 31 players had over 80 points.
In 1983-84:11 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had over 200). 41 players had over 80 points.
In 1984-85:16 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had over 200). 35 players had over 80 points.
In 1985-86:13 players had over 100 points(1 player had over 200). 30 players had over 80 points.
In 1986-87:7 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had 183), 21 players had over 80 points.
In 1987-88: 8 players had over 100 points. 30 players had over 80 points.
In 1988-89:9 players had over 100 points. 34 players had over 80 points.
In 1989-90:12 players had over 100 points. 36 players had over 80 points
In 1990-91:10 players had over 100 points. 29 players had over 80 points.
In 1991-92:9 players had over 100 points. 28 players had over 80 points.
1992-93:20 players had over 100 points. 47 players had over 80 points.
1993-94:8 players had over 100 points. 35 players had over 80 points.
1994-95:Lockout half season.
1995-96:11 players had over 100 points. 33 players had over 80 points.
In 1996-97: 2 players had over 100 points. 19 players had over 80 points.
In 1997-98: 1 player had over 100 points. 9 players had above 80 points.
In 1998-99: 3 players had over 100 points. 12 players had over 80 points
In 1999-2000: 0 players had over 100 points. 9 players had over 80 points
In 2000-01: 2 players had over 100 points. 20 players had over 80 points.
In 2001-02: 0 players had over 100 points. 4 players had over 80 points.
In 2002-03: 3 players had over 100 points. 14 players had over 80 points.
In 2003-04: 0 players had over 100 points. 8 players had over 80 points.
In 2004-05:Lockout Year
In 2005-06: 7 players had over 100 points. 26 players had over 80 points.
In 2006-07: 7 players had over 100 points. 28 players had over 80 points.

Goals per game average league wide.

72-73 4088/624 6.55
73-74 3989/624 6.39
74-75 4932/720 6.85
75-76 4913/720 6.82
76-77 4783/720 6.64
77-78 4747/720 6.59
78-79 4757/680 6.99
79-80 5902/840 7.02
80-81 6457/840 7.68
81-82 6740/840 8.02
82-83 6493/840 7.72
83-84 6627/840 7.88
84-85 6530/840 7.77
85-86 6667/840 7.93
86-87 6165/840 7.33
87-88 6237/840 7.43
88-89 6286/840 7.48
89-90 6189/840 7.36
90-91 5805/840 6.91
91-92 6123/880 6.96
92-93 7311/1008 7.25
93-94 7081/1092 6.48
94-95 3727/624 5.97
95-96 6701/1066 6.29
96-97 6216/1066 5.83
97-98 5624/1066 5.27
98-99 5830/1107 5.26
99-00 6306/1148 5.49
00-01 6780/1230 5.51
01-02 6442/1230 5.23
02-03 6527/1230 5.31
03-04 6318/1230 5.14
05-06 7588/1230 6.17

 

[The Muffin Stud]

Easy.

1995-2004. Huge goaltending equipment, clutching and grabbing and the trap all suck.

Things are a little better now but the goaltending equipment is still too freaking big.

Thread/


Lets not forget not only the demise of 2 Canadian teams, but the fact that during that period every Canadian team outside Toronto was being threatened for relocation/contraction.


Nice to see that today the Canadian teams are among the safest in the league.

In my opinion, although its not as open as it was 15 years ago, I often compare todays NHL with the NHL of the early 90's.

 

[Scoot]

From 1980-1989, hockey in the 80's sucked